II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1465

To provide for safe schools, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 29, 1999

Mrs. LINCOLN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for safe schools, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Schools Act of

5 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Elementary and secondary school children

9 are being subjected to unprecedented social stresses,

10 including fragmentation of the family, drug and al11 cohol abuse, child abuse, poverty, and violence. An

12 increasing number of elementary school children are
2

•S 1465 IS

1 exhibiting symptoms of distress, such as substance

2 abuse, emotional disorders, academic underachieve3 ment, disruptive behavior, juvenile delinquency, and

4 suicide. Experts agree that intervention at an early

5 age is the most beneficial.

6 (2) The national average student-to-counselor

7 ratio in secondary schools is 513 to 1, which is more

8 than double the 250 to 1 student-to-counselor ratio

9 recommended by the American School Health Asso10 ciation. The situation is even more acute in elemen11 tary schools where the ratio of students-to-counselor

12 exceeds 1,000 to 1.

13 (3) Youth violence is a serious problem in our

14 Nation’s communities.

15 (4) Youth crime peaks between 3 p.m. and 7

16 p.m., however, millions of children and youth are

17 home alone after school every day. Many commu18 nities lack adequate after-school activities.

19 (5) After-school and summer school programs

20 have proven effective in addressing academic and so21 cial problems among youth.

22 (6) Community organizations have been suc23 cessful in providing one-on-one academic and men24 toring programs for children, indicating that it is

25 beneficial for schools to partner with existing organi-
3

•S 1465 IS

1 zations and programs, such as Parents as Teachers,

2 RSVP, Foster Grandparents, 4–H Clubs, Save the

3 Children, and AmeriCorps.

4 (7) Fear of school-related violence keeps at

5 least 5 percent of secondary school students home at

6 least once a month.

7 (8) Although incidents of gun violence are few,

8 children too often bring guns to school.

9 (9) The National School Boards Association es10 timates that more than 135,000 guns are brought

11 into United States schools each day.

12 (10) Some 6,093 students were expelled during

13 the 1996–1997 academic school year for bringing

14 firearms or explosives to school.

15 (11) If all students are to live healthy lives and

16 achieve high academic success, every school should

17 be free of unauthorized weapons and firearms.

18 (12) Reports on school safety, including the

19 safety of school facilities, incidents of school vio20 lence, policies for students who bring weapons to

21 school, mental health services available to students,

22 and the number of instances in which a student was

23 determined to have brought a firearm to school

24 under the State law described in the Gun-Free
4

•S 1465 IS

1 Schools Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 8921 et seq.), would

2 be helpful to parents and the community.

3 (13) According to the report ‘‘Quality Counts

4 99’’, by Education Week, 36 States require the pub5 lishing of annual report cards regarding individual

6 schools, but the contents of the report cards vary

7 widely.

8 (14) Very few parents have actually seen a re9 port card regarding their neighborhood school.

10 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

11 The purpose of this Act is—

12 (1) to reduce violent acts committed at school

13 by students by offering additional mental health re14 sources to students and teachers;

15 (2) to improve the academic and social out16 comes for students through after-school and summer

17 mentoring programs; and

18 (3) to provide parents and communities with a

19 better understanding of the quality of schools by

20 providing them with access to school report cards

21 issued by the State for each elementary school and

22 secondary school in the State.

23 SEC. 4. GOALS.

24 The goals of this Act are as follows:
5

•S 1465 IS

1 (1) To help reduce the risk of academic, social,

2 and emotional problems among elementary school

3 and secondary school children by stimulating the de4 velopment of elementary school and secondary school

5 counseling programs.

6 (2) To enhance the availability and quality of

7 counseling services for elementary school and sec8 ondary school children by providing grants to local

9 educational agencies to enable such agencies to es10 tablish effective and innovative elementary school

11 and secondary school counseling programs.

12 (3) To encourage a team approach of coun13 selors working with students and their parents.

14 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The terms used in this Act have

16 the meanings given the terms in section 14101 of the Ele17 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

18 8801).

19 (b) MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL.—In this Act

20 the term ‘‘mental health professional’’ includes a school

21 counselor, school social worker, and a school psychologist.

22 SEC. 6. MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS.

23 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award

25 grants to States from allotments under paragraph
6

•S 1465 IS

1 (3) to enable the States to award grants, on a com2 petitive basis, to local educational agencies to enable

3 the local educational agencies to carry out the au4 thorized activities described in subsection (b).

5 (2) RESERVATIONS.—From the amount made

6 available under subsection (d) to carry out this sec7 tion for each fiscal year, the Secretary—

8 (A) shall reserve 1 percent of such amount

9 for grants under this section to Guam, Amer10 ican Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands,

11 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar12 iana Islands, to be allotted in accordance with

13 the Secretary’s determination of their respective

14 needs; and

15 (B) shall reserve 1 percent of such amount

16 for the Secretary of the Interior to carry out

17 the program under this section for Indian

18 youth.

19 (3) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

21 subparagraph (B), the Secretary, for each fiscal

22 year, shall allocate among the States—

23 (i) one-half of the remainder not re24 served under paragraph (2) according to

25 the ratio between the school-aged popu-
7

•S 1465 IS

1 lation of each State and the school-aged

2 population of all the States; and

3 (ii) one-half of such remainder accord4 ing to the ratio between the amount each

5 State received under part A of title I of

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education

7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for

8 the preceding year and the sum of such

9 amounts received by all the States.

10 (B) MINIMUM.—For any fiscal year, no

11 State shall be allotted under this paragraph an

12 amount that is less than one-half of 1 percent

13 of the total amount allotted to all the States

14 under this paragraph.

15 (C) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of

16 this paragraph—

17 (i) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of

18 the 50 States, the District of Columbia,

19 and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;

20 and

21 (ii) the term ‘‘local educational agen22 cy’’ includes educational service agencies

23 and consortia of such agencies.

24 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Grants under sub25 section (a) may be used—
8

•S 1465 IS

1 (1) to hire mental health professionals to reduce

2 the student-to-counselor ratio at the elementary

3 schools and secondary schools served by the local

4 educational agency; and

5 (2) to purchase the counseling services of men6 tal health professionals in the community on a con7 sultant basis.

8 (c) APPLICATIONS.—Each local educational agency

9 desiring a grant under this section shall submit an appli10 cation to the State at such time, in such manner, and ac11 companied by such information as the State may require.

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

14 $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

15 2004, of which $60,000,000 shall be available for elemen16 tary school mental health programs and $40,000,000 shall

17 be available for secondary school mental health programs.

18 SEC. 7. MENTORING PROGRAMS.

19 (a) GRANTS TO STATES.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award

21 grants to States from allotments under paragraph

22 (3) to enable the States to award grants, on a com23 petitive basis, to local educational agencies to enable

24 the local educational agencies to carry out the au25 thorized activities described in subsection (b).
9

•S 1465 IS

1 (2) RESERVATIONS.—From the amount made

2 available under subsection (d) to carry out this sec3 tion for each fiscal year, the Secretary—

4 (A) shall reserve 1 percent of such amount

5 for grants under this section to Guam, Amer6 ican Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands,

7 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar8 iana Islands, to be allotted in accordance with

9 the Secretary’s determination of their respective

10 needs; and

11 (B) shall reserve 1 percent of such amount

12 for the Secretary of the Interior to carry out

13 the program under this section for Indian

14 youth.

15 (3) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

17 subparagraph (B), the Secretary, for each fiscal

18 year, shall allocate among the States—

19 (i) one-half of the remainder not re20 served under paragraph (2) according to

21 the ratio between the school-aged popu22 lation of each State and the school-aged

23 population of all the States; and

24 (ii) one-half of such remainder accord25 ing to the ratio between the amount each
10

•S 1465 IS

1 State received under part A of title I of the

2 Elementary and Secondary Education Act

3 of 1965 for the preceding year and the

4 sum of such amounts received by all the

5 States.

6 (B) MINIMUM.—For any fiscal year, no

7 State shall be allotted under this paragraph an

8 amount that is less than one-half of 1 percent

9 of the total amount allotted to all the States

10 under this paragraph.

11 (C) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of

12 this paragraph—

13 (i) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of

14 the 50 States, the District of Columbia,

15 and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;

16 and

17 (ii) the term ‘‘local educational agen18 cy’’ includes educational service agencies

19 and consortia of such agencies.

20 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each local edu21 cational agency receiving a grant under subsection (a)—

22 (1) shall use the grant funds to carry out after23 school and summer mentoring programs, for elemen24 tary school students in public elementary school or

25 secondary school buildings, that—
11

•S 1465 IS

1 (A) shall provide continued academic learn2 ing opportunities; and

3 (B) may provide services that address the

4 health, social service, cultural and recreational

5 needs of the students;

6 (2) may use the grant funds to utilize sec7 ondary school students to work with elementary

8 school students, parents, or older volunteers; and

9 (3) shall coordinate activities assisted under

10 this section with activities—

11 (A) assisted under a national or commu12 nity service program under subtitle C of title I

13 of the National and Community Service Act of

14 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.), the Foster

15 Grandparent Program carried out under part B

16 of title II of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act

17 of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5011), and the Retired and

18 Senior Volunteer Program carried out under

19 part A of title II of the Domestic Volunteer

20 Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5001); and

21 (B) carried out by organizations and pro22 grams such as Parents as Teachers, 4–H Clubs,

23 and Save the Children.

24 (c) APPLICATION.—Each local educational agency de25 siring a grant under this section shall submit an applica-
12

•S 1465 IS

1 tion to the State at such time, in such manner, and accom2 panied by such information as the State may require.

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

5 $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

6 2004.

7 SEC. 8. REPORT CARDS.

8 (a) STATE REPORT CARDS.—Each State educational

9 agency receiving assistance under the Elementary and

10 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et

11 seq.) shall produce and widely disseminate an annual re12 port card for parents, the general public, teachers and the

13 Secretary, in easily understandable language, with respect

14 to elementary and secondary education in the State. The

15 report card shall contain information regarding—

16 (1) student performance in any subject areas in

17 which the State requires assessments, including com18 parisons with students from different school districts

19 within the State, and, to the extent possible, com20 parisons with students throughout the Nation;

21 (2) attendance and graduation rates;

22 (3) professional qualifications of teachers in the

23 State, the number of teachers teaching out of field,

24 and the number of teachers with emergency certifi25 cation;
13

•S 1465 IS

1 (4) average class size in the State;

2 (5) school safety, including the safety of school

3 facilities, incidents of school violence, the number of

4 instances in which a student was determined to have

5 brought a weapon to school under the State law de6 scribed in the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, and

7 school policies for students who violate school safety

8 requirements;

9 (6) to the extent practicable, parental involve10 ment, as measured by the extent of parental partici11 pation in school parental involvement policies de12 scribed in section 1118(b) of the Elementary and

13 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

14 6319(b));

15 (7) the annual school dropout rate, as cal16 culated by procedures conforming with the National

17 Center for Education Statistics Common Core of

18 Data;

19 (8) student access to technology, including the

20 number of computers for educational purposes, the

21 number of computers per classroom, and the number

22 of computers connected to the Internet;

23 (9) the quality of school buildings in the State,

24 renovations needed at the school buildings, and the
14

•S 1465 IS

1 quality of heating and cooling systems at the

2 schools;

3 (10) mental health services available to students

4 in need of service;

5 (11) extracurricular activities available to stu6 dents, including after-school and summer programs;

7 (12) community support, such as scholarships,

8 sponsorship of school events, and publicity of and in9 volvement in extracurricular activities; and

10 (13) other indicators of school performance and

11 quality.

12 (b) SCHOOL REPORT CARDS.—Each school receiving

13 assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Edu14 cation Act of 1965, or the local educational agency serving

15 that school, shall produce and widely disseminate an an16 nual report card for parents, the general public, teachers

17 and the State educational agency, in easily understandable

18 language, with respect to elementary or secondary edu19 cation, as appropriate, in the school. The report card shall

20 contain information regarding—

21 (1) student performance in the school in any

22 subject areas in which the State requires assess23 ments, including comparisons with other students

24 within the school district, in the State, and, to the

25 extent possible, in the Nation;
15

•S 1465 IS

1 (2) attendance and graduation rates;

2 (3) professional qualifications of the school’s

3 teachers, the number of teachers teaching out of

4 field, and the number of teachers with emergency

5 certification;

6 (4) average class size in the school;

7 (5) school safety, including the safety of the

8 school facility, incidents of school violence, the num9 ber of instances in which a student was determined

10 to have brought a weapon to school under the State

11 law described in the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994,

12 and school policies for students who violate school

13 safety requirements;

14 (6) parental involvement, as measured by the

15 extent of parental participation in school parental in16 volvement policies described in section 1118(b) of

17 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

18 1965;

19 (7) the annual school dropout rate, as cal20 culated by procedures conforming with the National

21 Center for Education Statistics Common Core of

22 Data;

23 (8) student access to technology, including the

24 number of computers for educational purposes, the
16

•S 1465 IS

1 number of computers per classroom, and the number

2 of computers connected to the Internet;

3 (9) the quality of the school buildings, renova4 tions needed at the school buildings, and the quality

5 of heating and cooling systems at the school;

6 (10) mental health services available to students

7 in need of service;

8 (11) extracurricular activities available to stu9 dents, including after-school and summer programs;

10 (12) community support, such as scholarships,

11 sponsorship of school events, and publicity of and in12 volvement in extracurricular activities; and

13 (13) other indicators of school performance and

14 quality.

15 (c) DISAGGREGATION OF DATA.—Each State edu16 cational agency or school producing an annual report card

17 under this section shall disaggregate the student perform18 ance data reported under subsection (a)(1) or (b)(1), as

19 appropriate, in the same manner as results are

20 disaggregated under section 1111(b)(3)(I) of the Elemen21 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

22 6311(b)(3)(I)).

23 SEC. 9. REPORT ON ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION SETTINGS.

24 The Secretary of Education shall prepare and submit

25 to Congress a report regarding successful alternative edu-
17

•S 1465 IS

1 cation settings used for disruptive or violent students in

2 elementary schools and secondary schools. The report shall

3 include information related to the training of school per4 sonnel in the education of violent or disruptive students.

5 SEC. 10. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR MENTAL HEALTH PRO6 FESSIONALS.

7 (a) STAFFORD AND DIRECT LOANS.—Part B of title

8 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071

9 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 428K of such

10 Act (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR MENTAL HEALTH

12 PROFESSIONALS.

13 ‘‘(a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of

14 this section to encourage individuals to enter and continue

15 in the mental health professions.

16 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized

18 to carry out a program, through the holder of the

19 loan, of assuming the obligation to repay a qualified

20 loan amount for a loan made, insured or guaranteed

21 under section 428 or 428H, or a comparable loan

22 under part D, in accordance with subsection (c), for

23 any new borrower on or after October 1, 1999,

24 who—
18

•S 1465 IS

1 ‘‘(A) has been employed as a full-time

2 mental health professional in a school that

3 qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan

4 cancellation for Perkins loan recipients who

5 teach in such schools; and

6 ‘‘(B) is not in default on a loan for which

7 the borrower seeks forgiveness.

8 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—

9 A loan amount for a loan made under section 428C

10 may be a qualified loan amount for the purposes of

11 this subsection only to the extent that such loan

12 amount was used to repay a loan made under sec13 tion 428 or 428H, or a comparable loan under part

14 D, for a borrower who meets the requirements of

15 subsection (b), as determined in accordance with

16 regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

17 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED LOANS AMOUNT.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall repay

19 not more than $4,000 in the aggregate of the loan

20 obligation on a loan made, insured, or guaranteed

21 under section 428 or 428H, or a comparable loan

22 under part D, that is outstanding for each of not

23 more than 5 years of service described in subsection

24 (b)(1)(A).
19

•S 1465 IS

1 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to

2 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

3 this section.

4 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall

5 be construed to authorize any refunding of any repayment

6 of a loan.

7 ‘‘(f) LIST.—If the list of schools in which a mental

8 health professional may perform service pursuant to sub9 section (b)(1)(A) is not available before May 1 of any year,

10 the Secretary may use the list for the year preceding the

11 year for which the determination is made to make such

12 service determination.

13 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY PROVISIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.—Any mental

15 health professional who performs service in a school

16 that—

17 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection

18 (b)(1)(A) in any year during such service; and

19 ‘‘(B) in a subsequent year fails to meet the

20 requirements of such subsection,

21 may continue to work in such school and shall be eli22 gible for loan forgiveness pursuant to subsection (b).

23 ‘‘(2) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No

24 borrower may, for the same service, receive a benefit

25 under both this subsection and subtitle D of title I
20

•S 1465 IS

1 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990

2 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.). No borrower may receive

3 a reduction of loan obligations under both this sec4 tion and section 465.

5 ‘‘(h) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publicize

6 widely the availability of loan forgiveness under this sec7 tion.

8 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this section—

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘mental health professional’ has

10 the meaning given the term in section 5(b) of the

11 Safe Schools Act of 1999; and

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘year’, where applied to service as

13 a mental health professional, means an academic

14 year as defined by the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

17 $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

18 2004.’’.

19 (b) PERKINS LOANS.—Section 465(a)(2) of the

20 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee(a)(2))

21 is amended—

22 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘or’’ after

23 the semicolon;

24 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period

25 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
21

•S 1465 IS

1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(J) as a full-time mental health profes3 sional as defined in section 5(b) of the Safe

4 Schools Act of 1999.’’.

Æ